Type of presentation: poster 

 

An in vitro evaluation of polymer functionalized silver nanoparticles for gene delivery 


Avril Moses 

kirst.moses@gmail.com 

Supervisor: Professor Moganavelli Singh 

 

Silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) owing to their apoptosis-inducing and anti-proliferative 
capabilities, have the potential to become antitumor agents. AgNPs were synthesized by 
citrate reduction and functionalized (FAgNPs) with chitosan (CS) and PEG-2000. 
Characterisation of the AgNPs displayed a UV-absorbance peak at 417 nm, with TEM and 
NTA results showing spherical particles with a favourable particle size and zeta potential. 
Band shift assays using FAgNPs at varying ratios complexed to plasmid DNA (pDNA) 
confirmed successful binding of the pDNA. The ethidium bromide intercalation assay further 
confirmed that the FAgNPs were capable of successfully binding and condensing the pDNA. 
Serum nuclease digestion revealed that the nanoparticles afforded partial protection to the 
bound pDNA (pCMV-luc). FAgNPs containing PEG produced the highest cell viabilities in 
the MTT assay: HEK (140%), Caco2 (108%) and HeLa (92%). Gene expression evaluated 
using the luciferase reporter gene assay showed that the nanocomplexes produced high 
transgene activities- (HEK293 >Caco2> HeLa). Overall, the suitable size, good stability and 
low cytotoxicity of these FAgNPs make them potential carriers for genes or other therapeutic 
molecules. However, further modifications and optimizations are necessary to ensure their 
success in an in vivo system.